Reports: Kennedy Center warns of bankruptcy unless Trump’s name returns

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/14/politics/kennedy-center-bankruptcy-trump-name-returns-hnk

Officials at the Kennedy Center warn it faces “certain fiscal collapse” within weeks unless Donald Trump’s name is added back to the building, according to documents obtained by The New York Times and The Washington Post.

The warning appears in a draft resolution circulated to the performing arts center’s board of trustees ahead of a special meeting Tuesday, the outlets reported. The center says it could be unable to make payroll or pay routine maintenance contracts within weeks and risks bankruptcy, according to the documents.

Trump has offered to raise the money needed to keep it afloat – but only with “appropriate recognition” of his role, without which he is unlikely to lead the rescue or oversee a planned renovation, the resolution says, according to the two outlets.

190 points · 85 comments · view on lemmy.world

85 Comments

Soulphite@reddthat.com · 160 pts · 10d

Haha, no. So many artists have canceled shows there when the pedophiles name was illegally added to the building. This is the biggest crock of shit lie coming from the pedophile loyalists that were installed there.

dhork@lemmy.world · 87 pts · 10d

In a few weeks, we'll find that the Kennedy Center has been sold in a "bankruptcy" sale at below-market price to real estate developer John Barron....

im_fine_sandy@nord.pub · 79 pts · 10d (4 replies)

Pathetic. Board should be fired.

BillyClark@piefed.social · 26 pts · 10d

When Trump tried to put his name on it before, we learned a lot about the board and its process. Basically how Trump stacked the board, and that the only reason that the name change resolution passed "unanimously" was that they didn't allow everybody to vote on it. Republicans sure do love their voter suppression.

So the problem is that if you fire the board, Trump will simply find other sycophants to put on the board, and you'll be getting rid of all dissent.

Malica@lemmy.zip · 12 pts · 10d

They're all Trump cronies, they kicked the real board out :(

Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io · 10 pts · 10d

"We've tried nothing, and we're all out of ideas." Kennedy Center Board, I guess.

deacon@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 10d

Preparatory to imprisonment.

Microtonal_Banana@lemmy.zip · 50 pts · 10d

This issue falls quite low on the list of current National emergencies. Shut it down until after the midterms.

Jaysyn@lemmy.world · 45 pts · 10d (8 replies)

Oh well, shut it down till January.

a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 10d (7 replies)

Unfortunately, we know from experience that he'll happily bulldoze things and just tell everybody he has the right to do it.

CorrectAlias@piefed.blahaj.zone · 14 pts · 10d (6 replies)

I'd rather it be bulldozed than have Trump's name plastered all over it.

a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 10d (4 replies)

I'd rather a third option for once.

ripcord@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 10d (1 reply)

Ok, what

a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 10d

Option 1. Trump gets his name on the building.

Option 2. Trump destroys the building.

I mean, an easy third option would be that he fucks off and doesn't touch it.

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 9d (1 reply)

Hold on one second, we dont count higher then 2 in this country. Asking for a third option is a purity test this country cannot and will not tolerate. Somebody round up the libs and hand them their torches, they have work to do here.

a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 9d

That's completely fair.

Malica@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 10d

Me too and I'm not even a Kennedy fan

TryingToBeGood@reddthat.com · 43 pts · 10d (1 reply)

Let’s see: they put his name on it and it immediately started hemorrhaging donors. Maybe that’s why they don’t have money, hmm?

(And count me among the people who don’t believe they ever took his name off—I don’t think they ever took the tarps down so anyone could see.)

Drusas@fedia.io · 7 pts · 10d

Donors and performers.

zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 42 pts · 10d

Trump's narcissistic meddling did this to the Kennedy Center. Let it die, we can always re-open it at a later time or build a new one.

Triumph@fedia.io · 41 pts · 10d (1 reply)

That's a fucking lie.

daychilde@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 10d

It's a stupid lie. Not even a good one.

RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world · 35 pts · 10d

You mean trump’s hand-picked board?

I’m sure they wouldn’t burn it down just to get Our Dear Dicktater’s name back on the wall, would they?

chunk6235@piefed.social · 29 pts · 10d (9 replies)

"We're totes gonna go broke soon if you don't let us do the illegal thing that's the direct cause of us being broke!"

Man, republicans are so fucking stupid they think everyone is as dumb as they are.

ClownStatue@piefed.social · 14 pts · 10d (7 replies)

In fairness, at least a third of the country is at least as dumb as they are. Sometimes, that’s enough!

JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 10d (6 replies)

Sometimes the smart(er) ones just dont do a damn thing (see 2024 sitouts)

bedwyr@piefed.ca · -3 pts · 10d (5 replies)

The non voters were right all along. The democrat establishment is the controlled opposition. We knew they couldn't beat the republicans with their unpopular candidates, and we ran them anyway, so who is (edit: in the wrong here. Less aggressive wording.)

JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 10d (1 reply)

See?

ToaLanjiao@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 10d

Lol

ripcord@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 10d (2 replies)

stfu

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 9d (1 reply)

You mad?

ripcord@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 9d

I mean I'm tired of dealing with morons so I guess

daychilde@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 10d

they think

First of all, they don't think much of anything.

What they do think is saying whatever seems to make the most sense to accomplish whatever goal they want right now is the right thing to say - right now. And later? Doesn't matter. Whatever they think needs to be said then.

No consistency, no logic, no truth - they don't care about any of that.

Saying this gives them the framework to have it echoed in their propaganda news outlets and helps them control the narrative as now the rest of us are playing defense against a stupid and worthless argument. We're defending something they just said to throw a monkey wrench in things. Now we're debating why the financial struggles instead of just saying "So..... again...... keep Trump's name off that building."

inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 10d (2 replies)

I believe that statement from the Trump appointed board as much as I believe in the statement "Tommy Tuberville can absolutely name the three branches of the US government."

Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 10d

Tommy Tubs couldn't name his family dog.

There are smarter goldfish in anaerobic ponds than Tommy Tuberville.

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 10d

That's easy: Offense, defense, special teams

limonfiesta@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 10d (1 reply)

Letting it die sounds callous, but it's better than giving in.

SoloCritical@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 10d

Easy for me to say, but let her die then.

Jarix@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 10d

Let it go defunct

Have a new group purchase it.

Make it a tribute to everything trump isn't.

Name it the Dead Kennedy Center

blattrules@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 10d (1 reply)

Trump cares more about getting his name on a building that’s already named for someone else than he does about any of the campaign promises he made to the idiots who voted for him.

Triasha@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 10d

I mean delivering on campaign promises is hard. Changing the name on a building is something Trump has experience with.

TemplaerDude@sh.itjust.works · 24 pts · 10d

It’s insane how childish that joke of a country has become, and everyone from the media to the democrats is just playing along.

JustPlainDave@lemmy.zip · 23 pts · 10d

Considering the track record of buildings with his name on them and bankruptcy, putting his name back will have the opposite effect.

Octavio@piefed.social · 21 pts · 10d

It's a theater. Nothing irreplaceable about it. If they want to go down this road there are plenty of other places for performers to perform. Mothball it until we have a normal government again.

JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 10d

Bullshit. They had enough to try to engrave the pedos name on the building.

Ravenheart@lemmy.zip · 17 pts · 10d (6 replies)

Let it die then. Fuck Trump.

stoly@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 10d (5 replies)

That's not the answer. It is an institution that was designed to serve the public good and has done since the 1960s. Nobody could have foreseen this.

Jarix@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 10d (1 reply)

It can be rebuilt later under better conditions. If you have to bend your knee to a pedophilific felon just to keep the doors open it's not fucking worth it.

His fucking name on a building means NOTHING to it's operations. It's pure vanity and should be treated as such.

Fucking spineless people

stoly@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 10d

I never suggests acquiescence. I am suggesting that it is a precious resource that should be preserved.

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 10d

Bankruptcy is not death, despite op

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 9d (1 reply)

Capitalism was always going to trend towards end stage. Anyone who wasn't covering their eyes and ears yelling how great and exceptional the US and capitalism are foresaw this.

stoly@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 9d

People are so propagandized that they believed that endless expansion was possible. They didn't even notice that they were being edged out of the world.

anon_8675309@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 10d (1 reply)

Leave his name off. Wait for him to pass from McDonald OD. Kennedy Center donations pour in.

Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io · 5 pts · 10d

the self induced problem solves itself.

Floon@lemmy.ml · 16 pts · 10d (1 reply)

He kills everything. He is poison in every way. He killed the Center's income by taking it over and adding his name, and now his lickspittles on the board are saying they won't go bankrupt only if his name is put back.

He is seriously the worst person in the world: no one else is such a combination of stupidity and power-tantrums.

blattrules@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 10d

He’s a fucking parasite

Bwaz@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 9d

Utter bullshit. Trump dictates who does amd who doesn't get funded now, with the cowardly GOP dominated Congress just sitting by.

billwashere@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 9d

MehBlah@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 9d

Manufactured failure is still the responsibility of the those in charge.

homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 10d (5 replies)

Was it this insanely incompetent in nazi Germany? Did people just make up ridiculous, obvious lies all day every day and fail at the most basic aspects of governance? I really wonder.

daychilde@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 10d (1 reply)
homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 10d

Well, shit.

thecaptaintrout@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 10d

Yes actually. Many European leaders did not expect Hitlers rise to succeed or Germany to actually be able start a war because of such buffoonery and big lies. The Nazis succeeded out of audacity and luck, and the third reich would have crumbled like the cancer it was at some point in the 50s without the war, but possibly with a greater death toll, possibly not. The Nazis painted over the cracks in the foundation, didn't actually repair anything. Like a modern US landlord.

LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 10d (1 reply)

The best of the best aren't willing to do this kind of work.

homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 10d

Not even the competent-if-unremarkable, it seems.

raef@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 10d (5 replies)

Someone needs to start an open letter. Title it something like "what good is an arts center no one will perform at?" Say the undersigned will not perform at a facility, property, or building with Trump's name on it. Get thousands--everyone--every artist imaginable to sign it

AbidanYre@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 10d (4 replies)

Get Little Steven on it.

raef@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 10d (2 replies)

Van Zandt? Is he especially political? I really don't know

savvie@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 10d

very much so, & the polar opposite of Tiny Dee’s Great White Worm’s frothing fearful hatred-laden politics

AbidanYre@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 10d

Yeah, he has a history of using music to shut things down.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_City_(song)

savvie@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 10d

you refer to The Great White Worm himself, Stephen Miller, no doubt

vegeta@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 10d

You mean like the Trump Taj Mahal?

Bubbaonthebeach@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 10d

Well it is now run by Trump's hand pick cronies and all Trump knows how to do is bankrupt things. Sad but if I were an American I'd worry more about the fact that he is close to bankrupting the whole country.

Baphomet_The_Blasphemer@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 9d

Swear he's just a giant toddler throwing another tantrum because he isn't used to being told no.

CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 10d

Everything donnie touches turns to shit.

WolvenSpectre@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 10d

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaahaahahahaahhhhhhhhhhhaaahaahhaah... (deeeeep breath) hahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahha ha!

architect@thelemmy.club · 4 pts · 9d (1 reply)

I didn’t even know this shit hole existed before they fucked it up. Good. Bye!

architect@thelemmy.club · 3 pts · 9d

Fuck the Kennedy’s, too!

stringere@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 10d

susieq0044@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 10d

You couldn’t make this shit up

savvie@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 10d

the toxic diaper-clad blemish on the world continues to wreak its malevolence wherever it lands its attention

santa@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 10d

Prove it.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 7d

Then shut it down.

yesman@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 10d (1 reply)

Unpopular opinion: Trump's name belongs next to Kennedy. They're both criminal dynasties with stolen wealth. I don't care if it ruins the opera for rich cunts.

brendansimms@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 10d

I agree with the first part (screw em both), but as someone who has been to many kennedy center events (live nearby) it is a place that tries to make the arts kind of accessible [or at least used to]. Ticket prices are either comparable or lower than concert venues and they [used to] have cool shows like in 2024 they had Andre 3000 one day, and Masego, and they have comics there too. Anyway yea fuck trumps and kennedys but I feel a need to protect arts venues.